'Good quality of care'

The trust would not confirm whether any staff had been sacked due to the mistakes, but said "appropriate disciplinary action" had been taken.

Ms Cousins said a range of measures had been introduced in operating theatres to improve safety.

"What we have to understand is that we do many thousands of operations each year and that there are many people involved in operations and that individuals and teams can make mistakes at times," she said.

"What we try to encourage at Addenbrooke's is a culture where people can talk about those and where we can work together to improve our systems to make sure that we help protect our patients."

A new chief executive - Keith McNeal - is due to take up his post at the trust on 18 February after Monitor recommended a managerial shake-up.